scary movies and scarier feelings
by not a straight trumpet
Summary: Kumiko has some friends over for Halloween. It doesn't go quite as expected.


**a/n:** been a while huh? i can't skip out on halloween though

had a slightly more difficult time coming up with the costumes this time around, but some of them ought to be funny enough

* * *

"I'm banning clowns," Natsuki said before Kumiko could even take half a step into the room, which happened to be the living room of her own apartment. Not that it mattered - Natsuki had made her position as the boss clear enough.

(What she hadn't made clear was what her costume was supposed to be, with her thick eyeliner and bra worn on top of a raggedly flannel, but it worked)

"Yeah, that's, uh, probably for the best."

"Glad we're in agreement there."

"I still can't believe you agreed to do this," Yuuko sighed, settling down on the couch with her pink jewelry clinking as she moved. "I'm not the only one who's afraid of clowns."

"I betcha use that on all the girls."

"I bet you can't make it through one movie without jumping into my lap."

"Why can't we watch something cute?" Midori moaned, sinking further into her Pikachu suit.

"I'm gonna have nightmares!" Hazuki added, leaning on her for dramatic effect. Her sign - reading, for reasons that became glaringly clear once one knew her, _CEILING IS #1! - _slid to the side.

"We're kinda running out of group things to do for Halloween," Kumiko admitted. It was true, in any case, but she didn't really mind. It was nice to know they'd keep gathering like this.

(Also, everyone's costumes were great this year, even if only half the group knew that her and Reina were coordinated at all)

(She hoped the flowers would be at least some indication)

"We're watching something cute at the end," Natsuki explained. "To ward off the nightmares or whatever. Now, though, we're getting scared off our asses because it's Halloween and we got banned from the haunted house."

"The ambiance doesn't hurt, either." Everyone jumped at the sound of Reina's voice. She stood, stock-still, in the corner, looking out at the wind whipping through the trees, the rain pattering at the window. "And it would be a pain to get anywhere in this weather."

"See? All great reasons." Natsuki clicked the remote with a slight flourish. Then she clicked it again. And again. "Hey, Kumiko?"

"Yeah?"

"Your TV's broken."

"It's not, I used it earlier today- uh, you use the other one to turn it on, then the one you're holding for the controls. It's weird."

"Alright, then, take two." Natsuki fished the other remote out from between the couch cushions and clicked it. The television glowed to life, showing off a family channel's celebration of the holiday complete with little kids dressed as ghosts and ghouls dancing to some song. "Hah! There we go."

"Took you long enough," Yuuko muttered.

"Find another lap to sit on." Natsuki turned to avoid Yuuko sticking out her tongue and started to peruse the channels. "Okay, let's see here . . ."

And then the lights went out.

"Kumiko-chan!" Hazuki shrieked, bumping into something. "Was this planned? Is this some kind of mean trick?"

"She wouldn't do that to us!" Midori cried, probably holding her based on the sound of rustling fabric.

"I d-don't know what's happening either!" Kumiko knew the layout of the apartment better than anyone - sneaking into the kitchen at ungodly hours for a midnight snack-slash-existential-crisis would do that - but those times she was alone. Right now she was very much surrounded by her five friends, who were all moving around, and she could only make out the faintest silhouettes. "It's probably just the storm, right? Power outages happen all the time."

"We have a backup generator at my house!" Midori said. "This is an apartment building, why don't you have a backup-"

"It must be a vengeful ghost!" Hazuki interrupted. "I don't wanna get possessed!"

"Nobody's getting possessed, alright?" There was Natsuki, gravelly voice distinctive as ever in the dark. Kumiko breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't caught up in the hysteria of this.

"I might get possessed to see a doctor if you keep holding my hand that tightly," Yuuko growled.

_Nevermind._

"Oumae-san, do you have any flashlights?" Yuuko continued, breezy.

"Yeah, they're in the kitchen- I'll, uh, go get them." Kumiko tromped through the living room like a spy on a mission, albeit a poorly trained spy, wincing as she stubbed her toe on an ottoman. "Ow!"

"Kumiko?" Reina - she'd hardly spoken all evening - seemed to move a little, and it took Kumiko a second too long to realize that they were right in front of each other, and Reina was right there, and as she stumbled back into the ottoman she felt a hand try to grasp her own and fall back with her.

Kumiko was grateful for the darkness right then, because she was absolutely certain her face was crimson, and she didn't want to see Reina's reaction.

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out, scrambling away and back in the direction of the kitchen. "I d-didn't know you were right there and-"

"Why not just use the flashlight app on my phone?

_Oh._

"That's what I was about to say."

"Right. Yeah. That's, uh, that's smart." Kumiko felt the flat, cold surface of Reina's phone being pressed into her hand, and instinctively covered her face when it started to glare directly into her eyes. "Okay, I'll get the other ones. Okay." Muttering to herself all the while, Kumiko made her way to the drawer marking for "emergencies" (this counted, right?) and picked up the one lantern still left in there. Clearly, Mamiko hadn't left anything to chance when she'd moved out. "Got them!"

"Great." Lit dimly by the harsh light of Reina's phone, Natsuki had gotten back on the couch. "Now we can see."

"Finally!" Midori clasped her mittened hands together, gleeful.

"Y'know," Natsuki said, thoughtful. "This is the _perfect _kinda setting to tell ghost stories."

"Yes!" Hazuki snatched the lantern from Kumiko, grinning a bit. "I love those!"

"You do?"

"Yeah! I have two little brothers, they're obsessed with this sorta thing. Besides, it totally different from actual ghosts." Hazuki waved away the idea of _actual ghosts _with a hand, as if she hadn't been terrified of the concept mere minutes earlier.

"Go ahead," Natsuki sighed, propping herself up against Yuuko, who didn't seem to mind.

"It was a dark and stormy night . . ." Hazuki began, waggling her fingers ominously. Midori shivered.

"It really is one!"

". . . and all was quiet in the plain little house, except for the girl who dared to creep out into the Forbidden Woods, where nobody was ever known to return from once they entered its snarly branches." Despite herself, Kumiko felt a chill down her spine. Hazuki wasn't a bad storyteller, all things considered. "Carrying but one lantern," Hazuki continued, "-the girl was looking for her dog, who'd gotten lost on a walk. She called his name, over and over again!"

"She's good at this," Reina whispered. Even after all this time, Kumiko's heart sped up. Reina was awfully close, glowing even in this limited light.

"But to no avail! The dog was nowhere to be found. Just as the girl was about to give up and try again tomorrow, she heard a barking in the trees. Could it be?"

"I know, right?" Kumiko whispered back, trying her hardest to pay attention to the story at hand when Reina was all but pressed against her.

"So she followed the sound! But as she followed it, going deeper and deeper into the forest, she soon realized that she was lost! There wasn't even a path to tell her where home was! The girl started to cry, but then _boom!" _Here, Hazuki jumped up, nearly kicking over the lantern. Natsuki steadied it with a hand. "Suddenly, a ghost appeared!"

"What did it look like?" Midori squeaked in rapt attention.

"All kinds of terrible! Scary hands, scary eyes . . ." Hazuki trailed off. "It's a story meant for little kids, okay? I didn't wanna scare them too bad."

"Keep going," Yuuko said, finally speaking up.

"Okay! So, the terrible, terrible ghost appeared and the girl was frozen in fear, but then she suddenly heard more barking in the trees! Another trick, she thought, but it was no trick - _it was her dog!"_

"The dog was a ghost too?!" Midori yelped. Hazuki blinked.

"No, no, the dog was coming to save her! He chased off the ghost. So it's a happy ending."

"Then she'd been following him the whole time? She just ran into the ghost by accident?"

"It doesn't need to make sense. It just gives the kids enough of a scare that they feel like grown-ups."

"Oh."

"I've got one," Natsuki picked up the lantern, set it in her lap. "Two girls were watching television together, when suddenly . . ."

"She's told this joke before," Yuuko muttered.

". . . they realized there was nothing good on!" Natsuki finished with a flourish. Everyone groaned, some louder than others. "Geez, tough crowd. I guess that's what happens when you're friends with people long enough. They just get ya. Okay, okay, here's a real one-"

Before she could speak another word, the lights flickered back on. Reina hissed and covered her eyes.

"Thanks," Natsuki growled to the room.

"You did it, Natsuki-senpai!" Hazuki squealed, wrapping her in a tight hug. Yuuko glared at them both.

"A-at least we're with friends," Kumiko said, and her heart glowed, and she meant it.

"We're here," Reina murmured, leaning in closer. Kumiko thought she might implode.

"And it's still Halloween! We've still got time to watch a movie or two, y'know." Natsuki leaned back against the couch.

"Actually," Reina said, standing up, "-since we're all set up like this, why not tell more stories? Just for a little while, and then we can go back to the plan."

"Sure. I don't mind."

"Perfect." Reina sat back down. Natsuki handed her the lantern, shaking her head fondly. "Once, in a world not very different from our own, there was a small group of girls . . ."

* * *

Kumiko was the last to fall asleep, after the last forgotten movie's credits had rolled and the rain had all but stopped. She looked at Midori curled up in a little ball, Hazuki sleeping protectively next to her. She looked at Yuuko, ribbon gone from her hair, nestled in the crook of Natsuki's arm.

She didn't mind the warmth of it all. Quite the opposite, in fact. Spooky as the surroundings were, Kumiko felt unbelievably comfy.

* * *

**a/n:** please let me know what you think the costumes were


End file.
